NEW YORK CITY -Inside the main arena at Madison Square Garden, Terence “Bud” Crawford proved why he’s king of the lightweight mountain. For ten consecutive rounds, Omaha’s favorite son delivered a thorough beating to former Olympic Gold Medalist, Felix Diaz. At the end of the tenth, Diaz’s trainer Joel Diaz, intervened and stopped the contest, resulting in a TKO victory for Crawford.
In the early goings it looked like Diaz might have some success. He threw his punches from odd angles and occasionally planted leather on flesh. Toward the end of round two, Diaz landed what was perhaps his best punch of the night, a looping right that caught Crawford clean and drew a buzz from the crowd.
But by the third round, Crawford started to settle into a groove. “Bud” used his jab to keep his smaller opponent at bay, then continually unleashed straight lefts that seemingly always found their mark.
By the fourth, Crawford started to really slow the Diaz train down. The awkwardly thrown punches from the Dominican began to land less frequently, with less effectiveness. The middle rounds were becoming increasingly lopsided in favor of “Bud”.
Left crosses, straight lefts, left uppercuts. They all seemingly landed at will.
To make matters worse for Diaz, not only was he getting tagged from distance, but each time he tried to get inside Crawford’s reach, the champion repeatedly punished Diaz with lefts.
Early in the 7th, the iron-chinned Dominican ate a vicious one-two that snapped his neck in two directions. Diaz responded by bull-rushing the champ, throwing wild punches, and momentarily turning the fight into a street brawl.
To his credit, until the fight was waved off, Diaz was willing to risk being KO’d in an attempt to land anything of significance.
But it wasn’t Diaz’s night. It was never going to be. Crawford continued to put on a clinic for the next three rounds and at the end of the tenth, Joel Diaz decided his fighter would not take part in the championship rounds; he would take no further punishment.
Crawford retained his WBO and WBC Super Lightweight titles and when asked by Max Kellerman who he’d like to face next, “Bud” answered with one name. “Pacquiao.”
Crawford’s perfect record remains and now reads 31-0, 22KO. Diaz suffers his second professional defeat and drops to 19-2, 9KO.
Beltran One-Punch Kayos Maicelo, Stuns Garden Crowd
With one left hook, Raymundo Beltran single fistedly sucked the air out of Madison Square Garden.
Midway through the second round of his lightweight bout against Peruvian Jonathan Maicelo, Beltran fired a murderous looping left that generated from his hip and exploded on Maicelo’s chin. The punch knocked Maicelo cold and silenced the rambunctious Peruvian crowd.
HBO’s televised co-feature began with a wild first round that saw Maicelo send the Meixcan-born Arizona resident Beltran to the canvas courtesy of a darting headbutt. Referee David Fields missed the headbutt and administered a ten count to Beltran. The clash of heads resulted in a cut over Beltran’s left eye and a gash on the top of Maicelo’s head. The end of the round concluded with a fiery exchange that finished with Beltran besting Maicelo, who slowly walked back to his corner.
In the second round, Maicelo gained momentum, feeding off the pro-Peruvian crowd. Maicelo seemed to be in control of the second round when seemingly out of nowhere Beltran connected with a jaw-shattering left that ended the fight on impact. The official time of stoppage was 1:25 of the second round.
According to Beltran’s lawyers, a win for him tonight meant that he would likely be able to secure his Green Card.
On the importance of his win tonight, Beltran said, “[It provides] Hope for my family. For a better future.”
Beltran moves to 32-7-1 21KOs, while Maicelo suffers his third professional defeat and his record now stands at 25-3, 13KOs.
Brick City Bomber: Stevenson Scores First Round KO
In his second professional fight, former Olympic Silver Medalist Shakur Stevenson scored a first round TKO victory over fellow featherweight, Carlos Suarez of Argentina. Newark’s Stevenson found his range immediately, connecting with short right hooks and straight lefts that clearly demonstrated his power.
In the third stanza of the opening round, Stevenson unleashed a barrage of punches that concluded with a left hook to the chin that sent Suarez tumbling forward until his stomach lay flat on the mat. While the ten count was being administered by referee Arthur Mercante Jr., Suarez attempted to get to his knees, but stumbled backwards. At that time, the 2:35 mark of the first round, Mercante decided to call a stop to the contest.
“I hit him with a straight left to the chin. That’s my money punch,” Stevenson said after the fight. “I only wish this fight could have gone longer for my fans here.”
The perfect start to Stevenson’s pro career continues as he improves to 2-0, 2KO. Suarez’s resume now reads 6-4-2, 1 KO
Tong Hui Cruises Past Calzada
Chinese super welterweight Li Tong Hui easily outpointed veteran Daniel Calzada to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Round after round Tong Hui peppered Calzada with lefts and rights born from all angles, hardly taking any punches in return. To his credit, Calzada, a fighter with more than 160 professional rounds in his rearview, took Hui’s punches well and never stopped trying to land something significant.
In the end, it was all Tong Hui, though. All three judges scored the fight a shutout for the man from China, 60-54.
Tong Hui improves his record to 9-1, 6KO, while Calzada’s record now reads 14-17-3, 2KO
Lopez Knocks Rivas Out Cold
In a lightweight matchup slated for six rounds, Brooklyn-born Honduran Olympian, Teofimo Lopez, scored a scary one-punch KO victory against Ronald Rivas. The definitive punch came courtesy of a counter left hook that exploded on Rivas chin. The punch immediately collapsed shut down Rivas system, and collapsed him to the canvas. Clearly out cold upon impact, referee Arthur Mercante Jr. wasted no time in calling a halt to the contest. The official time of the stoppage came at 2:21 of the second round.
Lopez keeps both his undefeated and knockout streak intact and now boasts a professional record of 5-0, 5KOs. Rivas drops below the .500 mark to 5-6-2, 3KO.
Ponomarev Remains Unbeaten With UD Victory
In an eight round battle between two veteran super welterweights, Abel Sanchez-trained and regular Triple G sparring partner, Konstantin Ponomarev, scored a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Ed Paredes.
Ponomarev started slow and initially kept his distance, but as the fight progressed began to wear down and impose his will on Paredes.
In the sixth round, Ponomarev seemed to stun Paredes with a straight right and kept the pressure on, stalking his injured opponent and connecting with more clean shots. Just when it felt like Ponomarev was about to pump up the pressure even more, Paredes landed a clean left counter-hook, stopping the Russian in his tracks and thwarting his attack.
In the eighth and final round, Paredes landed his most successful shots of the match, courtesy of two straight rights. Before the final bell sounded, Ponomarov answered those punches with vicious rights of his own, one of which momentarily wobbled Paredes.
At the end of eight, all three judges scored the bout 78-72 in favor of the Russian.
In fairness to Paredes, the wide scorecards don’t accurately reflect the closeness in which some rounds were fought. 15rounds.com scored the bout 79-73, Ponomarov, but noted four close rounds, three of which were given to Ponomarov.
With the win, the Ponomarev runs his already impressive record up to 32-0, 13KO, while Parades drops 37-7-1, 24KO.
Uzbekistan’s Olympic Hero Stays Perfect
Former Rio Olympic Gold Medalist, Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, battered Massachusett’s Agustine Mauras around the ring, three minutes at a time, for eight rounds. In front of about fifty or so fellow Uzbekistanis cheering on their fighter, the super lightweight showcased his superior skills, rhythmically landing one punch at a time before slipping away from anything Mauras would attempt to land.
It was a near flawless performance for the southpaw as he fought nearly every minute of every round on his terms. Perhaps the only knock against him would be that he seemed to lack a killer instinct. Gaibnazarov was content to hit and move — which works, no question — but rarely did the ex-Olympian piece together effective combinations, save for two in the opening moments of the final round.
At the end of eight rounds, all three judges scored the bout a shutout in favor of Gaibnazarov, 80-72.
Gaibnazarov’s professional record now reads 2-0, 2KO, while the hard-nosed Maraus’ record falls to 6-3-3, 3KO.
Lebron Dominates Estrada – Scores A Second Round TKO Stoppage
In a contest slated for four rounds, Puerto Rican super featherweight Henry Lebron scored an impressive TKO victory over New Mexico’s Johnny Estrada. After dominating the first five minutes of the match, Lebron landed a perfectly thrown left that knocked Estrada out on his feet. Lebron instinctively followed up and connected with a straight right that would have sent Estrada to the mat if not for referee Arthur Mercante Jr.’s intervention to keep the flailing fighter upright. The fight was stopped at the :52 mark of the second round.
Lebron stays perfect with the win, moving to 2-0, 2KO, while Estrada drops to 0-2.
Nelson Makes Quick Work Of Rubio
In a light heavyweight contest slated for six rounds, the night’s opening bout saw Terence Crawford stablemate Steven Nelson make quick work of his Mexican counterpart, Gilberto Rubio. In just under four minutes, Nelson sent Rubio to the canvas three time en route to a second round TKO victory.
The first knockdown came courtesy of a left-hook, right-uppercut combo as the round neared conclusion. In the second round, Nelson dug two meaty left hooks to Rubio’s liver, forcing him to a knee each time — the second of which resulted in referee Shawn Clark calling a halt to the contest at the :36 mark of the second round.
Nelson continues his ascent in the light heavyweight division and improves his record to 7-0, 6KOs. The Mexican, Rubio, sees his record drop to 7-6, 5 KOs.
